w upon his neck. The animal
"routed" with extreme terror, and, plunging forward, soon headed the
band.

This was exactly what I wanted; and on we went over the prairie, the
bull running at top speed, believing, no doubt, that he had a panther or
a catamount between his shoulders.

I had no desire to disabuse him of this belief, and, lest he should deem
me altogether harmless, and come to a halt, I slipped out my bowie,
which happened to be handy, and pricked him up whenever he showed
symptoms of lagging. At every fresh touch of the spur he roared out,
and ran forward at a redoubled pace.

My danger was still extreme. The drove was coming on behind with the
front of nearly a mile. I could not have cleared it had the bull
stopped and left me on the prairie.

Nothwithstanding the peril I was in, I could not resist laughing at my
ludicrous situation. I felt as one does when looking at a good comedy.

We struck through a village of prairie dogs. Here I fancied the animal
was about to turn and run back. This brought my mirth to a sudden
pause; but the buffalo usually runs in a bee-line, and fortunately mine
made no exception to the law. On he went, sinking to the knees, kicking
the dust from the conical hills, snorting and bellowing with rage and
terror.

The Plum Buttes were directly in the line or our course. I had seen
this from the start, and knew that if I could reach them I would be
safe. They were nearly three miles from the bluff where we had
bivouacked, but in my ride I fancied them ten.

A small one rose over the prairie, several hundred yards nearer than the
main heights. Towards this I pricked the foaming bull in a last
stretch, and he brought me cleverly within a hundred yards of its base.

It was now time to take leave of my dusky companion. I could have
slaughtered him as I leaned over his back. My knife rested upon the
most vulnerable part of his huge body. No! I could not have slain that
buffalo for the Koh-i-noor.

Untwisting my fingers from his thick fleece, I slipped down over his
tail, and without as much as saying "Goodnight!" ran with all my speed
towards the knoll. I climbed up; and sitting down upon a loose boulder
of rock, looked over the prairie.

The moon was still shining brightly. My late companion had halted not
far from where I had left him, and stood glaring back with an air of
extreme bewilderment. There was something so comical in the sight that
I yelled with l